Gangster Ravi Pujari held in 2017 extortion case

Thane Police has arrested jailed gangster Ravi Pujari in a 2017 extortion and firing case in the city and obtained his custody from a local court, officials said.

The 57-year-old gangster was on Wednesday produced before a special MCOCA court which remanded him in police custody till March 27.

The Anti-Extortion Cell of the Thane Crime Branch took his custody from Parappana Agrahara Central Jail in Bengaluru and brought him to the city on Tuesday, said a police release.  Pujari, who hails from Udupi, Karnataka, and had been operating from abroad for several years, was extradited to India from Senegal in 2020.

“The accused Ravi Pujari had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 crore from a construction businessman in 2017.

He threatened to kill the businessman if the ransom was not paid and subsequently sent his henchmen to fire at the victim’s office,” the police release said.

A case was registered at Kasarvadavali police station under sections 385 (extortion), 387 (fear of death for extortion) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Later, the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was also invoked in the case.

Pujari, who hails from Udupi, Karnataka, has about 44 serious crimes registered against him, the release said.